Break
by CatalystOfTheSoul
Summary: Pressured by the massive GIW operation to make a move, or get underground, Danny and Vlad are forced to combine forces in a covert operation to bring down a powerful government agency. But when things go wrong, it's every man - or ghost - for himself.
1. Breaking In: Vlad

**Well, I'm just going to say it now - I've posted this before.**

**Yes, I'm _breaking rules_ by doing that. No, I don't want to get flagged. This chapter is up in my Oneshots, and I didn't want to take it out or replace it, because that would kind of mess up the whole order of things. :) However, I will cut that one-shot version in half and leave it as a preview with a link to this current story.**

**If you haven't guessed it already, then question no more: full-fledged fic. Yeah. Honest-to-God, I'm doing it.**

**So, without further adieu, I give you "Break", the full-expansion on "Breaking In", chapter 38 of my "Oneshots";**

**I disclaim any ownership - this be fanfic, yo.**

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**Break**  
**Part 1: Breaking In**  
**by CatalystOfTheSoul**

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I growled, plowing through another stack of papers, completely dissatisfied with the GIW's organization methods—or lack thereof. "Hurry up," the boy hissed, cautiously keeping guard outside. I mumbled an incoherent response, something that may have sounded something along the lines of "_don't push me,_" if it hadn't been for the flashlight secured between my teeth.

Finally, I found a thick manila folder titled _Ghost Experimentation/Decimation_,and with a triumphant "_humph!_" I was leaving the room, snagging the boy and waving my prize in front of him. Daniel scowled, "Let's just _go_," he whispered, "This place is creepy enough, and I don't need _you_ around adding to it."

I rolled my eyes and led the way down the hall, all the while keeping my ears pricked; waiting for the clanking footsteps of a night guard. The boy rushed ahead at corners, crouching down to inspect what lay ahead before giving me the all-clear signal. Both of us were forced to rely on human night vision, for taking the power out was one thing—but ecto-powered ghost detectors ran regardless of whether or not the security cameras are working.

The boy put on another burst of speed, coming up in front; crouching…he held back a hand. I froze, adrenaline coursing through my legs—the urge to fight any threats nearly overpowering my logic. Daniel backed quietly away, faced me, and, upon noticing the hard look that had adorned my face, shook his head. "It's Val's dad." He warned, "I'd take you down before you could lay a finger on him."

"I wasn't going to _do_ anything," I replied, nearly silent voice barely reaching his young ears. Daniel brushed passed me and we slowly traced our steps down the hall, turned right, started down escape route B. I had made sure to plan several exits—Daniel and I spent forever memorizing the patterns of this twisting labyrinth. There was no way we'd blow it now by tripping the notice of a guard.

The mission had gotten far too important. Important enough to make me tag-team with my enemy. Important enough to actually make me worry. Important enough to…I shuddered. To put everything I'd ever accomplished into jeopardy. And it was all because ghosts decided they wanted recognition. Harmless enough, at first.

A group of Bene (the new name for benevolent spiritual entities) had entered the human world and actually—somehow!—appealed to the courts about their treatments as poltergeists. It turned into a giant mess. The GIW vs. the Bene. When humans went in favor of humans, Observants demanded they be placed on the judging panel. Half the world thought it was a hoax; the other, a twisted form of entertainment, and for those few caught in between, a nightmare. Humans were afraid of these 'monsters' entering their homes, and the Bene wanted 'rights' to entering the physical realm.

Long, tedious story short in which the best lawyers in the country and Ghost Zone couldn't come to an agreement, I was dragged into it. Mind, I'd kept well out of the conflict for a solid year. And Daniel had gone so far under the radar sightings of Danny Phantom were practically non-existent. But, alas, the Bene demanded they get judges who could accurately view both the human and ghost angle.

No one understood what they meant. Thank _God_ I had a group of my own secretly watching over them from above, my vultures swarmed the courtroom before those idiots could explain about hybrids. Or…perhaps it wasn't such a good thing. The government took it as a deliberate attack by the Bene, and immediately declared hostility. Shots were fired, ghosts were captured, humans injured…

It was a mess. A massive train wreck in which I should _not_ have gotten involved. And so, I didn't. …Daniel still grumbles about my complete lack of activity right then. Curse him as I may, he has a point. The GIW got there hands on a particularly…_powerful_ cluster of incompetent idiots. The GIW realized they had something, and faster than anyone could make an appeal against or towards, they started experimentation.

Weapons were created, far more devastating to ecto-genetics then had ever been envisioned. Detectors, with such incredible accuracy I had the GIW tracking my human form from a mile away—and all I did was make my eyes glow for a brief moment! Ghosts, Bene or not, were getting disintegrated upon finding a GIW agent in this realm. Their remains (still crying out for the pain to stop) were then gathered and used to create and mold more weapons. Infectious diseases designed to get caught by a specter in the human realm got carried into the Ghost Zone—epidemics of higher proportions than the black plague broke out. The entire physical world lived—knowingly!—within a continuous time loop for weeks when Clockwork was working passed the infection.

It had to be stopped. I went to seek out Daniel—and found he'd been looking for me as well. It was in the underground home movie theater at Miss Manson's house that we began to devise a plan. It wasn't much, at first. Daniel simply knew he needed to take down the GIW. I knew that we had to disable their weaponry, and soon, because it was fast becoming efficient enough to hunt hybrids—just one tiny bit more of sensitivity in those things and I'd be discovered.

I'd never been so happy that Daniel had been so convenient as to befriend a hacker. Tucker, while studiously glaring daggers at me, managed to get half-way through GIW security systems. He was a safer hire than Technus and, perhaps, a tad less annoying. The boy was incredibly able to circumnavigate a number of firewalls, and even though he couldn't quite get everything, he was easily able to secure schematics, and a basic description of several projects the GIW were working on.

But, most importantly, he found out about the hard copy back ups. There was no way the GIW couldn't track down a computer downloading their software, but with files after files just waiting inside of a room…it was the perfect way to find what made these weapons, how to disable them, distribute antidotes…and eventually it would be the key to taking down this entire blast organization.

Daniel stopped dead in front of me and I nearly made a loud crash by tripping right into him. It was a fairly good thing the boy had gotten a grip on better coordination, as we barley made much of a scuffle. "_Shh_," the boy commanded, gesturing for me to back up, "Do you _feel_ that?" I straightened, cocking my head to the side. The apparent lack of sound and light greatly intensified my 'sixth sense' abilities, and, indeed, there was something that seemed to be knocking at the back of my mind…something…_unpleasant_.

I curled my nose and took several steps back, but the sensation persisted. "Melted battercakes," I cursed, "What on _Earth_ is that?" Daniel rudely stepped on my foot, motioning for my voice to lower. Angrily, I bit my lip, glancing around the dark. "Where are we on the map?"

Daniel shook his head, "We should be near the fourth gate by now," he whispered. I swallowed. In between the fourth and fifth gates was the 'sector five' of this horrible place. What we had all agreed must be where all the experiments were held. The boy ran a hand through his hair, a nervous shiver working its way up his back, "It hurts…"

I nodded. "Like you said earlier, let's just get out of this place," I motioned for him to continue. But before Daniel could do more than open his mouth to agree, a set of footsteps and flashlights began racing down the hall we were supposed to be turning onto next.

The boy and I took that as our cue to run, as quietly as we could, behind the previous corner. Thankfully, we'd hidden ourselves in time that those passing wouldn't see us. Unfortunately, whoever they were turned down the very same hall we had previously occupied. Meaning they were heading this way. Daniel, having already calculated that there would be no way we'd make it to the other end of the hall in time, hastily moved back ten feet and lay flat on his stomach. I followed suit, hating the only cloak I had to rely on was darkness.

What looked like a troop of soldiers (save for the fact that they were all adorned in white) hurried by, flashlights bobbing wildly in tune with their rapid footsteps. I held my breath, six…eight…ten, no, twelve pairs of men went by. The last two, moving in a step that didn't quite match in their company's march slowed to a stop, and the two of them shuffled to the side, flicking off their lights so as not to be noticed. I felt rather than saw Daniel and I exchange glances, for our eyes had been momentarily dazzled by the flashlights.

"Are we clear?" One of the masked figures asked nervously. Upon recognition of that voice, I nudged Daniel in warning to keep his mouth _shut_. As far as we knew the boy's old teacher was one of the enemy. Although, telling by the way he and his companion were acting, I doubted it. Still…they could be dangerous and the _boy_ might readily blow our cover just to say hi. Times like that he mirrors his father so much I may not be able to tell the difference between the idiots. Especially in a dark hallway.

The second figured tottered at the edge of the corner, looking around. "They'll be gone for a bit. It's a good thing whoever took the power out did it so well—we have a good forty five minutes before they can get it back on." This time I honestly had to throw my arm over the boy and cover his mouth. Valerie, also, was on our 'unsure' list. Daniel, the little brat, licked my hand.

Disgusted, I held my ground, digging fingernails into his exposed skin. The boy shifted his elbow very carefully to place pressure between my ribs. I flinched, the ghost of a hiss escaping my lips. "What was that?" The former teacher of Casper High wondered, spinning to face us, far more blinded then we were seeing as _he_ was the one waving a flashlight around. The boy and I froze, slowing our breath down as well as we could humanly manage.

"_Shh!"_ The teenage female whispered, glancing back in our direction. At this point, I thanked Daniel's decision to lie down. It would be much easier to spot two lumps pressing themselves up against the wall then two…piles…flat on the ground. "Don't you understand that if someone hears us we're _finished_?" She whispered harshly, turning her back to us in dismissal, "We have to get to the ghost experimentation rooms."

"We don't even know if he's going to help us…" Lancer sighed, "Or if he went into hiding." The teacher slumped by the wall, and I wasn't quite sure if he was shaking his head or not, but the tone of defeat was clear as he spoke, "As far as we know, he went into hiding just as soon as the Guys In White started this whole thing. I'm beginning to think this plan was a tad too impulsive…"

Valerie also sighed, seating herself right across from him. "We have to move as soon as our eyes adjust, you know…" She leaned back a little, and I found myself growing in frustration. _We have to wait until they're ready to move?_ The clock was ticking! It's high time Daniel and I got out of here, regardless of what these two fools were up to. "But even if we don't find Phantom here, we can still find out what they're doing to the ghosts to get all of this technology…"

"Imitating ghost powers," The teacher's voice mirrored the one I used when I was disgusted with something—most commonly, the idiot barely breathing next to me…speaking of whom, his voice had hitched when they mentioned Phantom. I don't blame the boy. I missed my ghost half, too... "Ecto-experimentation on humans…Phantom would never stand for this. I don't care if they called him a poltergeist—he _protected_ human rights…"

"And he completely vanished as soon as the GIW started taking over," Valerie finished, standing and holding out a hand to the teacher. "I'm telling you, if we find him anywhere, it'll be _here_." _Perhaps not in the fashion you assume you're going to find him…_I thought, watching as Lancer accepted her offered hand and stood. My mind made up, I noisily sneezed as well as I could in the position I was in.

The two jumped so high it should have been comical. Danny growled just faintly enough for me to hear and pushed himself to his feet. "Next time you try to keep my mouth shut I'm going to attack you, I'm not so stupid as to talk even if it were Jazz's voice I heard." He grumbled, twitching to face Valerie and Lancer, "And then you go off and be a hypocrite and sneeze, Frootloop. …Hey guys…didn't expect to find you here." Daniel added, crossing his arms argumentatively.

I graciously got to my feet, "If you weren't such a talkative little _brat_ I wouldn't feel the need to do that…and licking my hand was just _crude_."

"Yet, effective." The boy grinned widely, gesturing to Lancer and Valerie, who promptly flinched upon recognition. "You guys gonna talk?"

"_D—Danny_?" The former teacher breathed in shock, mirroring Valerie's surprised stutter of "_Mr. Masters_?" I nodded to them formally, pushing the boy to the side for my own approach. Daniel, after nearly dropping the folder, stared back up at me with a look of murder in his eyes. I didn't even need light to know that; so it was my pleasure to ignore him. "What a surprise," I said silkily, "But this really isn't the time nor place for us to be speaking."

The new, rather odd pair, glanced shiftily at one another. Finally, Valerie stepped back and cleared her throat, "What...what are you doing here?" Her voice, as I assume was meant to sound brave, wavered ever so slightly; and I realized, ironically, that she was afraid we were _enemies_. I cocked my head to the side at that thought. How…_interesting_.

Danny passed by me, not even bothering to hesitate in giving Valerie a half-hug, "We're running out of time," He mumbled, "Vlad and I will explain on the way; but we _have_ to get out of this place." Striking past the new additions, he led the way down the hall. "…It's this way to the experimentation labs, if you were wondering." He added as an afterthought, immediately causing both intruders to fall in step behind Daniel.

It was my reluctant displeasure to bring up the rear, "We heard your conversation…" I glowered, catching up so I could walk to the right of Lancer, "And I can guarantee you Phantom has not been captured by the GIW…you _could_ say he helped to organize this mission…" I drawled, knowing exactly the questions that had been pressing on their minds and well aware that, while answering some, more had appeared.

"Where is Phantom?" Valerie asked, stress coating her tone, "And…how do we know you're not with the GIW?" Her suspicions, while well founded were better off ignored. I didn't trust her, and I had no reason to. I ground my teeth in displeasure, preparing a snappy response.

"How can we trust you, Valerie?" Daniel whispered from a few feet ahead, his tone coated in a strangled sort of misery. …He'd taken the words right out of my mouth. The boy really was beginning to get like me… I couldn't help the feral grin twitching across my lips. The girl, about to answer, was stopped when Danny froze, clenching his fists.

By-passing the humans, I moved ahead, placing a hand on his shoulder and, although I was about to inquire what was going on I found myself quite unable to do anything. Because I _felt_ it. A wave of pain and fear erupted inside of my mind, all at once quaking and twisting into a burning mass that took hold of me, froze my entire body while causing it to reel through dark memories that weren't mine.

A black void penetrated swirling nightmares within nightmares that had consumed my mind—digging so deep and hoarding all thought that I was once able to claim as my own. It took what was mine—my loves and my dreams, my faults and my hate, my knowledge and my strength, my tact and my deceits, everything that made me _me_ was being dragged away, turned over, re-created into a monster I did not recognize.

It felt as if I was simply a humble observer, trapped upon an island of sanity and forced to watch as, one by one, everything I knew I was burned. And within the ash arose a pain so deep, horrifying…and something, _something that didn't belong was coming_! An animalistic panic struck through my veins and I struggled, forcing my feet out of a clogged swamp, I had to stop what was coming! I had to! It was so _wrong_! It was everything I wasn't—and it wanted to _destroy_ me!

I fought, kicked out; thrust my arms in all directions, but to no use. I was trapped…dying, alone, broken… A shriek penetrated through the distance, and my world _stopped_. I'm not quite sure how long I stayed, frozen along with it, until I realized that my fingers could move. It was then that I managed to open my eyes, look around. Sound, harsh whispers coated with fear, filled me.

"Vlad?" Valerie tried again, shaking me. My body writhed in response and I forced myself to blink. Valerie. Dark hallways. Lancer. The boy. Lights. Spinning. Focus. Lights? Oh…a flashlight. In my eye. Ow. Right, push it away. Blink. Focus. Breathe. The boy? Daniel? Where…frozen, same place where I had been, unattended. The darkness, the void, consuming his terrified frame.

I shouted. Disregard for safety…no, whisper! Save him! Pull him back! Gestures, frantic, ringing…Lancer, pull him "back!" Hoarse, barely a whisper, my voice? "Pull him back!" I croaked, pointing at Daniel. "Save…ack!" Coughing rocked me and my sight grew dizzy. Confusion wracked my brain. I glanced around, finding the torch alight upon Daniel, hands grasping his shirt, forcing him to step back.

He was next to me, I held his shoulder for my own support, "Daniel," I called; almost unable to hear myself speak. "Daniel, wake up. It's gone. Breathe. It's gone." He didn't respond. I closed my eyes, "Wake up," Now my voice was under control, a whisper, but strong. "It's gone. You're you. Wake up. It's gone." He coughed, his body suddenly taken with shivers, but alive.

Left longer to fight the…darkness? His knees gave out, but Valerie, Lancer, they were there to catch him. "_What happened?"_ Valerie pressed, nearly failing at attempting to keep her vocal cords on a low tempo. I bit my lip, shook my head. I had to focus. Breathe. Help the boy, he looks _freezing_. No, don't think about…what _was_ that? What happened? I don't care. I'm terrified. We need to escape this mad house. We have to run, now, find another exit—I'm _not_ taking one more step down that hallway.

Daniel's eyes found mine in the light of the flashlight Lancer had foolishly flicked on. It was a moment of pure, silent agreement when he picked himself up, and, with me promptly following behind, began running, retracing our steps the other way, "We'll take gate three out," I said, listening as a more unsure couple of feet joined in behind us.

"We saw a guard back there last," Danny warned; it wasn't much of an argument to stay away, though. More like a plan for action. I nodded, and the boy continued, "We'll have to overwhelm him; shouldn't be too hard with Valerie and Lancer with us." A protest from behind went ignored. "And then we'll be jumping the fifth gate curve to get out, sound good?"

"Fairly," I said, and, hesitantly, added, "Do you have any idea what that…?" He was silent, and I knew that the boy would have as much idea as I did. He simply brought a hand down to the folder under his arm…and stumbled to a stop. "What?" I asked, pulling alongside haphazardly.

He stared at the folder, and Lancer's light (which was _still_ on) proved what the boy had already realized. "We…must have dropped the papers." Danny opened the now-empty folder, a sort of agony twisting his face. "I…can't go back to that—that _place_."

"I got it," I cut off, looking to Valerie and Lancer. "Daniel's still shaky on his feet. Make sure he gets to safety—I'll be right behind you." There was a moment of uncertainty that passed before I brought out one of my most withering death glares for the two new comers, "I'm trusting _you_. Make me regret that, and you will never see the light of day again."

Valerie's eyes widened, and she opened her mouth in a sort of surprise, retort? It didn't matter to me; I was already rushing down the hall. At this point, I think I realized what I was doing. …Could I, physically, make it passed that point again? I flinched at the very thought. This was stupid, _stupid_! What am I…thinking?

_We've worked too hard to get this…_ A piece of my mind hissed, and I had to agree. This had gone too far, I'd worked to hard, to lose it all now…well, for one the GIW would know someone was sneaking down here during the city-wide power out. And Lord knows how much more difficult life would become after that—we'd never get another opportunity like this if they decided to tighten security.

So, how do I retrieve the papers? There was a point in that hallway where it hit me like a wall…whatever _it_ was. So…if I were to do some very careful maneuvering, I might be able to reach the papers…ugh, with my foot? That's pathetic…but, no one's going to see me so I guess…I'll just have to let my senses guide me.

Last time I hadn't paid enough attention—a fatal mistake as I'd walked right into _it_. Now…now? I…don't know. How am I to avoid…? There's a possibility I could run right into it…and even, no, no! Will I have to go back? Get help? We're running out of time! I can't… "_Vlad!"_ A female voice hissed, barely noticeable footsteps coming up alongside me.

I glimpsed her young outline, lifting an unseen eyebrow. "You…came to help me." I stated; an odd sense of relief swallowed what tension had been building in my midsection. I couldn't help the feral grin that slid into place as she nodded. "My dear Valerie, you haven't changed much at all, have you?"

"Of course I have, Mr. Masters," She snorted, "If you didn't overhear my conversation with Lancer, I'm _helping_ a _ghost_." Even in the darkness, the girl had such modesty to look away from me in a sort of shame, "I know it's not exactly how I'm supposed to act. I'm still a ghost hunter, like you knew I would be, but…" She laughed softly, "Things change."

"Enough to have you sneaking around the GIW headquarters with your former teacher?" I whispered, stopping as I noticed we were very near that…_place_. Like they'd been waiting for us, a sheaf of papers lay scattered about the floor only feet ahead. "I mean no offense Valerie, but such behavior is very…strange."

She continued walking and stooped to pick things up, "Yeah, well, you did some weird stuff tonight too." The girl gestured at the place she was standing, and I shuddered. "But, if you must know, Lancer and I are a part of this… _group_. He and I ran into one another on the street when the power went out at GIW headquarters; we had no time to really plan…just came here and improvised as well as we could. We knew we needed Phantom out because, well, he was—at least—something we could handle. And Phantom would want GIW out as well as we do; so…"

I sighed, rubbing the terrible headache that had alit my forehead, "What group? How did you form?" …Is it just me, or are we really close to the corner that led down to gate four? …I know I'm supposed to do something about a blind spot here, but…

Valerie shifted nervously, going after a few more pieces of stray paper. "We kind of formed in response to all that the GIW has been doing—the fact that no one really knows what's going on in here, the weird outbursts of 'spectral holes' opening up all over the place sometimes, their out-of-this world weaponry…that big hallucination."

"The time loop was no hallucination," I explained, holding back a feeling of dizzy vertigo—_this place!_, "The press can rant all they want about GIW possibly leaking stuff into the water supplies; I know for a fact that it was a spectral plague spread throughout the Ghost Zone." I scowled, my knees kind of felt…shaky, but I pressed on anyway, trying to force my mind off of the presence of something…_unwanted_. "The GIW don't know who they affect; and so we had to suffer as the Time Master recovered…"

"Uh…Time what?" Valerie asked, stepping past me and heading on our previous course. When she noticed I wasn't following, she stopped, turned, came back. I held a hand to my head, closing my eyes and breathing heavily. "Mr. Masters…? Are you okay?" My knees buckled all too quickly and I found myself slumped on the ground. "Mr. Masters!" Valerie whispered in panic.

It felt like there were little black spots jumping into my already-darkened vision, and I tried to shake them away. "I—I'm fine…" My body shivered, "It's just this _place_…ugh…" I leaned back, groaning as a wash of exhaustion clawed its way into my mind. "Valerie…"

"What?"

I blinked slowly up at her, unable to focus. I licked my lips, tried and failed to speak, tried again, "Get…me…_out of here_." A bright light splashed me and I turned away, _why was she turning on her flashlight? _I didn't expect her to do something so foolish; all I needed was…was…

Dark. Wait. No, not again! Fight…it…No. The dark. _Thing_. It was…somewhere. Here, my mind? No…crouching, waiting…enticing me. Fall asleep. Lean to the left…no! Stop! Don't follow the command! That's…where…_it_…was…Valerie? What, wait, I can see _it_. That _thing_. That _monster_. Glaring. Anger. Hate. Obsession. It wanted to _kill_ me. It—it…was…was…a mirror?

Plasmius grinned darkly, a clawed hand reaching out and grasping for my soul. No! That wasn't _me_! I knew who I was…I know my ghost half! What, wait…the darkness. Changing. Shifting. Melting. Re-creating. Maddie, wearing the same smile the other me was, her eyes digging into my heart…no! It—it isn't Maddie…_Daniel_?

Phantom frowned, "Vlad?" I blinked, "Vlad?" Valerie tried again, a flashlight too bright on my face. I think I may have mumbled her name, and if so, she was definitely responding, "I'm so sorry! I tried to pull you away and then, well…"

"Let me see him." The flashlight changed hands and an unfamiliar person knelt to inspect me, "What happened to you?" The gruff male voice asked, "And what are you and my daughter doing here? Don't you know that if you get caught—"

"Dad, give him some space," Valerie complained, "Can't you see he's out of it? I _told_ you, we're trying to stop all the madness going on. Wasn't it you that said the Organization should take any opportunity they get to take action? We were taking _action_, dad…and it just turns out Mr. Masters has the same thought we do."

"I never told you to throw yourself into danger…" The man, Damon Grey?, took hold of my shoulder and, gently, helped me into a standing position. "I'm going to help you get out of here," his voice was coated in distaste, "But you have to promise _never_ to do something like this again, Valerie."

A sigh. "Yes, dad…" Damon, with a heavy hand now gripping my right arm turned us around and began to move in the direction of…I dug my feet into the floor, Valerie, seeming to catch on that this was not a direction for me, jumped in front of us. "Dad, stop! We can't go this way."

"Valerie, there are _guards_ crawling all over Sector Three," The man gruffly motioned her to step aside, and I think he said something else but my mind chose that moment to get distracted by whatever it was trying to slam into me. I closed my eyes, took a deep, heavy breath, and focused in on the voices arguing next to me.

"—can't go down there. I don't know what it is, dad, but look at him! Something's affecting him to the point where…" She paused, and I cracked open a lid in time to see her shift nervously and look down, "It's like how you were describing what happens to ghosts when they come near Sector Five."

Damon's grip tightened, and I shook my head, snapping out of whatever delirium was about to try and take me over again, "I can't walk down that," I told him honestly, "It…I—I can't." The security guard looked me up and down, his lip twitching in anger. I could tell there was a question he was about to ask, but, to my surprise, he simply gave a gentle smile of reassurance.

With that, my arm was hoisted over his shoulders, fingers kneaded into my abdomen and I felt my feet literally lift off the ground a centimeter. Damon Grey grunted with his effort, "Help me carry him, Val."

"Wh—what?" Her startled voice practically mirrored the panic suddenly striking up inside of me…but I was too close to _it_ to make any motion against what was happening. Damon stepped forward, and I swear he said something forceful about absolutely _not_ going down that way again, and…they had to hurry up, or…whatever it was…

I basically felt like all of my strength just got sucked out of my bones right then. Apparently, whatever _it_ was wanted to try a new approach every time I got near it. Had to be, for this time instead of my body stiffening I became a complete and total deadweight, unable to do anything more than feel it as my body wished itself into a dark and eternal sleep…

My eyes closed, lulled by this sort of nauseating desire to curl up into a ball and rest for as long as I could possibly manage. This…wasn't so bad. Not like the last time, now was it? A tiny smile alighted my lips (that is, if I could actually move them); I was perfectly content to subject myself to a good, long, nap…

You'd think I would have watched enough movies to see _this one_ coming. Chicken Dumplings! It was part of my _livelihood_ to lull people into a false sense of security! So _why_ on Earth was I so shocked when that _thing_ suddenly reared its ugly head? Perhaps it was because I hadn't expected it to show up in that, _particular_, form.

The Box Ghost never was very threatening. Then again, this wasn't _really_ the Box Ghost. He sneered at me from atop a scorched tree branch, glaring with deep red eyes, his grin widening. "You look so small," my own voice danced within my ears, coming from that mouth, taunting.

I spread my lips to respond, but no sound came out. Laughter echoed around the darkness. _My_ laughter. "You have no say here," The Box Ghost leapt, beast-like down to the ground. He crouched, nearly on all fours, and licked his teeth hungrily. "You are nothing more than a mere cockroach; a tad harder to kill, but…"

Daggers replaced fingernails and the Box Ghost shifted toward me, maniac giggles escaping his throat inconsistently, "But I can still kill you." My feet refused to move out of the way when he lunged, and my shout went unheard, unable to make any sound at all as those sharp, blood covered points of steel dove at my neck.

It happened so fast—the thick, angry set of nails swerving to catch my chest, running a long and bloody set of scratches down the front—I almost didn't register that I wasn't dead. The Box Ghost hopped away, frowning deeply, "No fun. What did you do?" He glared pointedly at me, hissing, "_Fine_._ There's more than one way to kill you_."

Those eyes, red and hateful, were the only things that didn't change with the rest of _its_ body. Again, Maddie was standing before me, a casual hand on her hip. She came close, a predatory smile on her face. "Hello, Vlad." _It_ was still using my voice. My eyes tightened in response, and my soul froze, building a sort of fury at the thing.

Impersonate _my_ love? Rob me of _my_ voice? Take away the uses of _my_ body? _My_ defense? _Coward_! The other times I'd come across this _thing_, I was horrified; I didn't know what it was. Still don't. My eyes tightened, and I forced my fist to clench. The GIW made this _thing_. No matter what _it_ says or does to me, I'm still a far better inventor than those _idiots_. And something _they_ have created will not defeat _me_.

I'm not entirely aware if _it_ realized that I wasn't going to stand around and let _it_ taunt me anymore, nor did I rightly care. My teeth clenched, my leg muscles twitched, and I mentally threw myself at the _thing_ as it morphed—right into the form I'd been half expecting to appear. It was my ghost form I was tackling, closing my fingers around my own throat.

"You—!" My ghost half glared, struggling, "You can't actually think you'll _win_?" I bit my lip, squinting. There was no way I could speak in response, but I couldn't help but wonder…this wasn't anything like whatever it was I'd experienced before. Here I was, attacking an image of myself that had decided to do things to taunt me, hurt me slowly.

Before, it was a blind force wreaking havoc on everything that I was. This thing…whatever _it_ was, could it be…intelligent? Or am I…hallucinating? Trapped inside of a dream of my own creation? Either way, the GIW had created _it_. And here I am. Strangling it. My lips twitched in a feral grin. Just like I will the entire organization.

The _thing_ writhing underneath me suddenly stopped, red eyes boring into me, and it too grinned. My form melted into Daniel's ghost half, and his hands gripped my arms painfully. "You…" It was the boy's voice. "…and I will kill each other, Frootloop." He laughed, unexpectedly, and vanished into a grey mist. I sat there, heaving fistfuls of dampened air as my surroundings changed.

My body was gruffly propped up against a wall. "I can't take you any further," A heavy voice grumbled. "You two will have to make it across the fence on your own. He should come around soon." I felt more than saw Valerie crouch and place a hand on my forehead.

"He screamed back there," Valerie whispered. "What…_happened_, dad?" I opened my eyes, blinking into the star lit darkness. The girl was looking up at her father, who had folded his arms and was staring pointedly at me. I tried to say something, but found that my throat ached horribly and refused to make a sound. I'd screamed?

Damon sniffed, turning away, "Just make sure my employers never get their hands on him, Valerie. I can't say much, but…" He sighed, "They've been _itching_ for an excuse to get him in here. He and that kid you went to school with before it shut down…Danny, right?"

The security guard didn't wait for an answer, instead marching off all soldier-like inside. I cautiously swayed to my feet, sparing a questioning glance at Valerie. Tentatively, I held out a hand for the papers clutched between her fingers. She gave them over to me, eyes clearly asking if I was alright.

I simply walked towards the bushes, legs shaking. I was outside. Good. Disoriented? A little. Better than last time. How much time did we have left? The lack of artificial light, even out here, told me that the power was still out. But it didn't say a thing about what time it was, so I had virtually no clue how much longer we had before escape.

_And the boy?_ I asked myself, frowning. If he's out he's already over the fence and hiding. If not, I'll wait for him there. Gesturing for Valerie to catch up, I pointed to the fence. "Ladies first." I croaked. She mutely jumped at the fence, climbing nimbly over and dropping to the other side.

I pushed the haphazard stack of papers underneath the wiring for her to grasp before following suit. Together, we retreated into the brush. "Danny should be coming out at that gate," I whispered, indicating a place about 100 yards of fencing and an open expanse of grass away, "And if he's already out he'll be there." I shifted in a direct line, making our destination a place perfectly in front of the gate Danny was supposed to leave at.

Valerie, bless her training for not asking too many questions in situations such as these, rushed on. I picked my way slowly behind, warily watching the gray building. Outside, it wasn't nearly has confusing as the twisting labyrinth within. I had to keep myself from stopping to inspect the hands on my watch; it wouldn't do to remind myself just how little time we had left.

When the girl and I come to the place I had initially pointed out, we spent little time deducing that Daniel was yet to leave the building. I settled myself to wait, stealing away the papers from Valerie a second time and trying to read them. It was too dark to make out any text, but it was clear to me that this shuffled stack of reports had been shuffled to a point beyond the GIW's normal quality of disorganization. Fantastic.

"Mr. Masters?" Valerie wondered, finally seeming to realize I wasn't in the mood to speak with her. "As much as I'd like to ask about what it is that you're holding…and that whole…fainting thing you did earlier. But…you _might_ want to look up."

I did so, pushing all other thought aside as I saw Danny turn back to the doorway, frantically gesturing. Lancer raced out a second later, and together they were heaving the door shut; they arched around, racing across the expanse of grass as silently as they could almost directly towards us. I knew when Daniel caught my eye, for a mad smile split his all-too serious face for just a moment.

I held down a chuckle, pulling Valerie into a crouch with me so we could wait until they got to us. _You idiot,_ I thought fondly, _you've made it._ "Perhaps he's not as bad as his father after all, Ms. Grey."

The lights came on.

The boy and Lancer froze in the sudden myriad of floodlights encompassing them. "I think I…spoke too soon…" My own shocked voice mumbled as a double line of white clad troops busted open the doors, racing to encompass the two humanoids. I could hear a muffled demand come from one of the ring leaders as he stepped towards the boy, weapon aiming at his chest.

Danny and Lancer's hands flew into the air in response, that universal symbol for peace. "_What are you holding?"_ Rang out across the clearing, and Daniel slowly allowed his arms to drop so he could inspect the empty folder clutched between his fingers. The boy frowned, his shoulders dropping in a sort of defeat. I could almost hear the almost-sigh drifting out of his lips.

Danny's face twisted into that of pain, and he looked right at me. It…clicked. _Ghost Experimentation/Decimation._ I quickly shook my head, _no_! They were going to know we were fishing for files. They were going to know someone else had the _actual_ papers. We can't let them—but—_no!_ There was only one way to keep this information from them.

And he'd already realized that. Daniel blinked away tears, mouthing something that was eerily reminiscent of the word "_Sorry_," as the folder was engulfed in a bright, green, _achingly beautiful_ spectral fire. Red, blaring alarms immediately screeched across the entire building, ecto-detectors ringing madly all around.

It took 5.43 seconds for the guards surrounding to deduce that Daniel must have been overshadowed. 3.69 seconds for them to switch their gun settings to spectral tranquilizers. …And less than one second to fire, simultaneously, at his chest.

The boy (and his former teacher, caught in the crossfire) dropped. I watched, numb, as they picked both forms up and carried them inside, only one guard slowed, peering into the darkness he couldn't see. Reluctantly, Damon Grey followed the procession of men back into that horrible labyrinth.

A moment of silence fell between Valerie and I. I was the first to break the monotony, glancing down at the files in the now too-bright reflected lighting. Valerie shifted, "…What was it my dad said about the GIW wanting to get their hands on Danny?" Her broken voice inquired.

I swallowed heavily, hands beginning to shake. "Never mind that…" I replied, setting aside the files so I could unbutton my shirt. I twisted my torso, a strangled form of panic sliding over all the coherencies my mind held. "I think I just found out what the GIW are up to."

Four long scratches still lazily oozing blood onto my pants, and the large black and blue bruise forming around my neck. Valerie stuttered out words that I guess she intended to be questions, as if my brain was actually trying to decipher her sentences. I, personally, couldn't find it in myself to speak.

But that could be due to the fact that I'd nearly strangled myself to death.

* * *

**Chapter two "Breaking Out" next week!**

**~Catalyst**


	2. Breaking Out: Danny

**Have I got a wild ride for you... :) Good luck!**

**Disclaimer: Yeahno.**

* * *

**Break**  
**Part 2: Breaking Out**  
**by CatalystOfTheSoul**

* * *

I shifted my toes, my sweaty hands rubbing themselves together in brain still _thump_ed painfully against the outside of my skull, as if crying out in indignation. I really shouldn't have sat up. My stomach reeled, threatening to throw out whatever I'd swallowed that day.

Scratch that. I really, really, _really_ shouldn't have sat up. Little stings fizzled all over my body and I groaned, shifting to put my hands on my head—I needed aspirin. _Badly_. Fenton Anti-Stick Rays, this _hurts_. My wrists jostled, something keeping them from making it half-way to their destination.

_Oh no_. My eyes trailed to inspect the faint glow of cold metal handcuffs holding me in place. It took me a moment of biting on my tongue and trying to figure out just _who_ had decided to capture me this time before memory slammed into me with the force of a raging hurricane.

Oh.

I whimpered slightly in panic, twisting in my restraints and searching the room in for an escape. Largely darkened, but the little light shining underneath the door made reflections jump all over the startlingly white room—a dark figure was slumped in the corner, moaning to itself.

"Hello?" I gulped, frantically looking between it and the door, "Who's there? Mr.—Mr. Lancer?"

The figure looked up at me suddenly, scuttling deeper into its corner. I couldn't quite make it out very well, but the flash of eyes, the dip of nose, and, most importantly, the slight glitter of blue skin made it instantly apparent. This wasn't my English teacher. "Go away, go away." It mumbled, purple eyes dimming beyond that of a normal ghost.

"What?" I whispered, shifting onto my knees to get a better look, "Hey…are you alright?" A large, pointed ear dipped down and stayed there. The creature hissed, stuck out its tongue and tasted the air. I surveyed the ghost cautiously, reassured only by the faint scratch of chains against linoleum.

"H—human?" It asked me, cocking its head to the side, a drift of shakiness coming into its frame. "You…" It sneezed, "You smeellll not-human. But you smeellll human. I don't…" It licked the air again, "Human or ghost? Human or brother? Kiillller or friend? Torturer or tor-tured?"

I blinked, holding out my palms in a symbol of peace. That last question kind of hit me, "I'm…I'm kinda hard to explain. But, heh," I jiggled my chains, "Tortured. See?" As if to prove myself, even in this scant light, I twisted my human torso to show a faint scar that stretched from shoulder to elbow. "Friend." I asserted, pointing to my chest. "I'm a friend."

It kneaded claws onto the floor, making loud, scratching sounds that reminded me of fingers clawing across a chalk board—and I shuddered. _That_ noise. It made my insides curl up on themselves and my ears want to twist it away; my teeth ground in disgust. "You friend?" It asked, flicking up its chained wrists to show them to me, "You know me?"

"Erm, no, sorry." I bit my lip, scooting forward a little, "My name is Danny. Dan-ney. What's your name?" The creature whipped something that I recognized to be a tail, its animal-human features tight with coiled fear. It shook its head, flat almost-humanoid nose sniffing at me cautiously. It shuddered, pressing itself against the wall.

I felt a sudden sting of pity for the thing. It didn't quite matter to me that I was captured right now—it'd happened enough times that the stressful waiting period when your captor wasn't present had stopped phasing me. I simply refused to think about how different this situation was—how much more dangerous.

Besides, I had something to worry about huddled in front of me. An assistant, maybe, to get us out of here? Someone who knew where Lancer was? Information, perhaps? Or, more selfishly and very, _very_ reluctantly admitted, a distraction from what lay behind the door. "What's your name?" I coaxed, my gentle voice seeming to sting and make it flinch.

"They tell me I have no name," Its miserable eyes jerked to face the ceiling, "They tell me I am ghost. I haaave no name. I have nooo mind. I am ghosssst. I am filll_th_. I am to be tor-tured. I have noo-o friends, they say. They saayy I have no passt. No emo-tion. They lie, I tell them they liie. I have name. I haavve feeling. I haaa-ve _mind_." The creature jerked to place its wide gaze upon me, "They laugh. "You _stu__u-pid_ ghost," they tellll me, "stupid, dumb, filthy ghost." And they do thisss,"

My stomach twisted – in horror or anger or fear, I wasn't really sure; the ghost slithered forward to show me its exposed chest that hung between a tattered and grimy half jacket—a remnant of what the ghost once wore, I guess, and in a fresh scar that still oozed bits of purple ectoplasm;, a large Y-incision splayed across his front.

My jaw loosed in evident horror. …I think I just got sick. No, seriously. I'm _going_ to throw up. The ghost watched my reaction, settling back on the ground. "Tortured." It said, moving its body so I could see a pair of delicate, tiny scaled wings perched on its back—a thick, angry scar clear across the left one. "See?" It said, turning back to me, a sort of curious expression its face. "Friend?"

I shook my head, uncomprehending. _Poor thing_. Something of a sad smile tugged at my lips, "Yeah." I whispered, "Friend."

The creature snickered, sitting up on its hind claws, tail loosely coiling around its toes, "My name is Mallllvern. But you call me Moonster, friend." It licked its lips, "I let my friends call me Moonster. My friends say it fuuunny—I llooook like Monster. They," it used a shaking claw to indicate the door, "They callll me ghossst. I am not even enough to be Moonster to them. They n-ot friend."

I nodded, a gentle chuckle making its way passed my throat despite itself; ghosts and their terrorizing nicknames. For a moment, just a moment, my captivity didn't seem so bad. "My friends call me Phantom, sometimes." I winked, "You can too, Monster."

The thing grinned, showing off sharp, glinting teeth. "Hello, Phantom Danny."

Of _course_, that's when it happened. Typically, the moment I let my muscles relax—it was just my luck that a glorious shock of pure electricity jostled through my veins at that exact time. For some reason, I wasn't surprised. My life sucks like that. I honestly don't see any reason to play terrified little mouse.

Across from me, there was a silky, slithering howl that broke through my mind and shattered upon my ears. Monster was getting the same treatment I was, and it's really not pretty to hear a humanoid-thing get tortured. Their voices are twisted between beast and human, making it all the more mournful of a keen—and much, much louder than my own, depressed cry.

The moment it stopped my headache was back, with more force and vigor than ever. _Stupid, evil, government agents_. I thought to myself, looking up as a pair of men came into the room, a figure dragging between them. My eyes were blurry, but I could nearly make out the incoherent mumblings of their captive as he was being chained to the wall.

Almost as clearly, I could sort of identify the voice—not that I exactly had to. If it sounded familiar, and it was in this place, and the person wasn't glowing…well, then, who else could it be? "Mr. Lancer?" My words cracked pathetically on themselves, but the teacher's head swiveled pitifully in my direction anyway.

"_Danny_?" He chocked out, stricken by a massive coughing fit. One of the armored agents kicked him harshly before turning to me.

"Ghost."

_What_? I wanted to be heavily sarcastic and say something witty and active and rude and…something. But I locked my jaw, glaring up at the man—I recognized Operative O's scowling face as if it were my own. I'd never imagined he'd really be someone to fear; so I refused to admit that he was. The agent lashed out at me, "We know your secret."

No duh. You called me ghost. I worked my mouth, a bubble of defiance fizzing behind my teeth. I could spit at him, if I really wanted to, I guess. But otherwise I was at a complete loss for what to say. No use in spitting without a witty comment to follow. "We know," The Operative growled, apparently deciding that I wasn't worth waiting for a reply, "That you've tied yourself to this body, Ghost. Preformed some permanent kind of overshadowing."

What.

"You're hiding."

…What?

"You're a filthy, ectoplasmic coward."

No, seriously, _what_?

O crouched, grabbing my chin in his thick, nearly-white gloves that scratched roughly against the surface of my skin. "We're going to _force you_ out of this body," O grinned a deep, satisfied type of smile, "No matter what ties you've made to this body, no matter what takeovers or commas you had to create to make your signature hide so well under a human _host_," it was now that I noticed something slightly damp brush against my skin that transferred off of his glove, "We. Will. Tear. You. Out."

I swallowed. The substance trailing little dark spots weren't only on his gloves—they flecked across the operatives entire torso, a uniform that is normally made a top priority to keep clean and sterile; dripping still warm, sticky stuff. Blood. Red blood.

_Human blood_.

Quite suddenly I was afraid. No, _terrified_; my eyes sweeping over to my teacher, who had promptly either fainted or passed out on the wall—or…died. Operative O was unlocking my chain, another armored man at the door poising a finger over a little electric trigger box—the chain fell away, but my glowing cuffs remained.

Monster, huddled in the corner had his ears held flat against his head, folding so tightly on himself that he looked like he'd shrunk to half the size of what I originally saw him as. I was hoisted to my feet, and, as if a switch had been flung on in my head, I was talking—er, chattering. Like crazy.

"L—look, um, you don't understand—I—you got it all wrong! I—I'm just a _kid_! Please, you don't get it, really, really, you don't! I'm not a—a ghost or, or anything else! I'm just me, see? See? My hands aren't glowing and I've got normal eyes—yes, come on, if I was a ghost—which I'm NOT—my eyes would have a glow in them from overshadowing! I know it because my—my parents are ghost hunters! I know what to look for! Maybe, it's just ecto-traces left on my body from the lab? I'm not a gh—"

_Wham!_

Ouch. And I thought I was onto something convincing with that last bit, too. Operative O addressed me, "Shut up, ghost. There's no talking your way out of this." Two thick pairs of hands took hold of either side of me and began to unceremoniously drag me from the room. Monster whimpered, and I saw the flash of his claw point to Lancer, _"I watch."_ He murmured very, very quietly. The GIW did not bother to hear.

All I could do was offer a brief smile before the door slammed shut and there was nothing for me to stare at but blank walls, the tops of my shoes, and the scant edges of the men dragging me behind them. "What—what are you going to do?" My legs were too wobbly to even care about helping these guys lug me along; which I assume is good—I'm not exactly willing.

"Tear you out of the human and lock you in a cell where you belong, ghost." It was a different, even harsher crackle of a voice that didn't belong to O. I had no idea who the other guy grasping my arm was, but he sure didn't seem friendly. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, right? Whatever happened to good cop bad cop?

"What about me?" I ground my teeth, "My human, not-ghost body—because I'm not, at all, a ghost. What are you going to do with _me_?" I struggled, just a little, and rather pathetically, in an attempt to wriggle around so I could catch a glimpse of the set of my captor's face.

I managed a glimpse of Operative no-letter's black sunglasses (_inside_ the building?) before a stick slammed into my back and I was left, cursing, to watch my ankles. Ouch. That struck my freaking _spine_. "The human body has obviously had to have grown a dependency upon you for life support, ghost. As soon as we take you out he'll die anyway."

_He'll die anyway_. Oh no. Nonono. Not good—really, really not good. That sounded less like a "we'll try to keep the human alive" and more like a "that's an excuse to butcher human flesh". And, unfortunately, a good excuse. It'll look like I just died during the operation—an accident. Poor Danny Fenton eclipsed by an evil ghost.

I have to get out. _Now_. I need to leave—this is not good. At all. My heels scrapped and squealed against the floor in protest, my torso jerked and twisted against restraint, and, before I knew it, I was shouting incoherently at the ceiling. It was like suddenly, before I'm strapped to a table and torn in half, I had to defend myself—my _humanity_. "I'm a student! I went to Casper High—before you guys shut it down for ghost activities and I…I…"

I don't know what to do. A door opened, I was roughly pulled inside and thrown on a table—salty tears somehow managing to find purchase on my cheeks. They're not listening. _Nobody_ is listening. I'm being strapped to a freaking _dissection_ table and I don't even get a last word.

Operative O leaned over me, glowering, "The doctor will be in to see you—he's going to check over the humans' vitals to see what you've done to mangle it." The man hesitated, if only for a moment, "And then we're going to cut you open, ghost freak."

…Ghost freak. Wow. When was the last time someone called me that? …Heh. Not in a while, dad hasn't said it since the Bene trial ended—and it wasn't even directed at my ghost half. Now here I am, months later, caught in an attempt to get back my freedom. My ability to be called "ghost freak".

I hate irony. I really, honestly do. If I needed to recognize it in class, I never did—irony only seemed to click with me when I was directly and seriously affected.

Like now.

A white suited, masked Doctor entered and peered at me over his mouth cover. "Hello, Danny, is it?" I blinked up at the too bright light he swung over me. "The human host you've infected. His name is Danny Fenton?"

"That's _my_ name, yeah." I tested my arms against the restraints, faintly wondering when handcuffs had become table. They weren't glowing, but there was definitely a vibration of power inside of them that twisted all over the table underneath me. No phasing out of this thing. Fantastic. The doctor guy started to pull on a pair of latex gloves, crinkling his eyes in what was possibly a smile.

I told him that this wasn't funny. "Oh, no, not at all," The doctor's brows knit together, "I know Danny's mother, Maddie, we've met at the city hall ghost conventions. She's going to be devastated." He stood, lost in his own thoughts, before shaking his head and turning back to me. "Still, she told me quite a bit about her family. It'll be a shame..."

I winced. He brought my mother into it. The doc shook his head dismissively, and a pinch in my arm indicated the progress of a needle as it began to pull out my blood, "So, ghost, oh…this _is_ interesting." He held up the vile, fascinated, watching the swirls of dim green dance in and out of my mostly-red blood. "How did you _do_ this? I've never seen integration quite like it!"

"No idea." I sighed, slumping on the table. I think my freaking-out-I'm-going-to-die-panic moment just ended. I'd been planning on riding the emotional high long enough so I could beg and scream and writhe and somehow find a way out of here, but my emotions just began to shut down. It wasn't that I didn't care; it was that my body was reacting to a panic situation.

Panic situations and I had a struggling relationship, at first. But now I can't seem to find the energy to make myself overflow with distracting emotions. It's really annoying, actually…makes me feel like Vlad. Ew. The Frootloop.

An image flashed over my eyes—Casper's auditorium, a plate, a sense of dizzying vertigo as the image flicked and solidified. Valerie. My hands, aged?, sitting in my lap. A voice rumbling in my throat. The doctor leaned over me, "So how are we going to get you out?"

_"What happened to him?" She asked, wrinkling her hands in worry._

"I guess I'll start with hooking you up to the heart monitor—I'm going to see how well you've managed to keep your human host alive." The doctor patted my head and shuffled aside.

_I snorted in indifference, "Where is it, then? Your "organization" doesn't seem to have much of an armory if it's hiding in a broken down school." Her eyes flashed in anger, opened her mouth to retort_—

My head hurt. The surgeon was arguing next to me, "I can't just rip it out of him; the human host will not be able to handle a sudden—"

"We need the identity of the ghost!"

"I have to do this slowly, over a period of days, be patient and you'll get your identity; so long as I can keep the human alive—"

_"Nathan, is it? You're holding that weapon wrong," I set mine down and walked over to him, "Honestly, a pistol shouldn't be so hard to wield—Yes, I _know_ it's glowing."_

"Ooh," I groaned, closing my eyes tight against the images. Which reality was true was clear—I had memory linking to it and everything. Here I was just fantasizing or something. Hallucinations, colorful, vivid, but unmistakably hallucinations. My head started spin in the way it did when I got too close to smoke.

Something cool touched my forehead, "Interesting. Do you see this? His oneiro brain waves are jumping in activity, and yet he is clearly still awake." A gruff answer, "Yes, well, I can just _ask_ him—Danny? Hello, can you hear me?"

"Ye—OUCH!"

_A pang on my shoulder. "Sugared strawberries! You idiot!" I cursed, "I'm not here for target practice! No, no, finger _off_ the trigger. _Safety_ locked? These weren't designed to have a safety lock!" I wrenched the gun from his apologetic fingers, "I don't want to hear it! Go take one of the stupidly named anti-creep sticks!"_

"Ow, ow, ow!" My head twisted back and fourth, my teeth gnashing together. I couldn't bring my hand up to nurse my shoulder; it was still locked in the death grip of those _stupid_ restraints.

"Danny, what's wrong?" The doctor was baiting me, I could so tell. I may be hallucinating, but this pain was _real_. I have no idea what he's doing, but I can't just sit here with my eyes closed and _let him_ hurt me!

I twisted my neck and stared. It…my t-shirt was still on, my shoulder wincing underneath it. No blood, no smoking burn, no sign that it had been touched. "I…how is that possible…? But…it felt so real!" I protested, turning to the clearly confused Doctor guy in despair. "I _felt_ it!"

He held up his hands, not seeming to understand. "I haven't touched you yet." In his fingers dangled a glossy needle, which lowered almost hesitantly to take another sample out of my skin. "Now, calm down, don't make me sedate you."

"S—sedate me?" My mind got all disoriented, fuzzy. "I…sorry." I'm apologizing. He's going to kill me and _I'm_ apologizing. I'm crazy—it's official. Hallucinations, random freak-outs down a hallway, and apologizing to my killer. Yup. Totally insane. "I thought I saw…"

His forehead wrinkled in worry. Mock worry. "Ghost. You need to focus. Are you attached to the human you've taken over? Are you attached to Danny?" He set the needle down and pulled up a chair to plop down next to me, "Ghost," he cooed, "Danny. Why don't you tell me your real name? Your title? Are you seeing his memories, ghost?"

"I _am_ Danny!" I struggled, glowering, "Look, doctor person guy—"

"Doctor Harris."

"Harris. Whatever. _Listen_, I _am_ who I say I am. I know me—I have thoughts and feelings and friends—I get beat up by bullies and go to movies and miss my curfew." I glared at him, I wasn't sure what was going on, had no idea that this excursion into the GIW headquarters would go so wrong, but if I hadn't been spending the past three years practicing for a moment like this then I would eat my shoe. In one bite.

The doctor guy held up a hand, laughing softly. "I'm going to have to put this down for you straight. If you don't tell me your name, then I will have to commence the operation right now. This will not be a slow and gentle thing. It _will_ kill the human you have taken over and desperately weaken your spectral form." Harris leaned in, a soft smile on his lips, "Now you wouldn't want me to have to rip you in half all in one hour, would you? Not that you would really get much out of it anyway, but I'd hate to kill your host…"

"No. Here—why not just let me _leave_?" I bit back, basically shoving all thoughts of the glinting cut-me-open-tools resting next to me. If I ignored the obvious, I could almost pretend I was in a dentist office; and I was always extremely sarcastic with dentists. "You're blind, you know that? I'm not a ghost—and even if I _was_, it's not like I can _magically_ not feel anything. I'm not _numb_. Ghosts are formed after death because of emotion, why would we not _feel_ it?"

The man only crinkled his eyes in a victorious grin, "Oh, well, yes, you see—that just proves everything. "Why would _we_ not feel it?" Oh, dear me, ghost, I think you just blew your cover—not that you had much to go on in the first place, of course." He frowned, "If it's any consolation, I believe you—you're probably too heavily tied to your host to _not_ feel this."

I couldn't say anything. My jaw moved but my lips didn't part and my vocal cords were too constricted by emotion that not one sound let itself out in my defense. I was frozen, no idea what to say or do or think… "We'll take you down the hall to sector five," the doc folded his arms, "I'm sorry that I have to do this, but, I need your name and I really _do_ want to do this carefully. There's no time for dallying."

Sector five. Wait. Memories—blackness, chaos, rage, my mind, _burning_. And we were only _near_ sector five, sure, a few feet away, and just about on the corner of it, but…I closed my eyes, focusing on the atmosphere for anything that felt so desperately _wrong_. _There_! To my left, estimated twenty feet away, was about the edge of something only intuition and a sick feeling in my stomach could recognize.

"Hold on," I mumbled, watching as Doctor Harris leaned over me, pushing the table that was more of a cart, when I noticed that it began to shudder and roll towards the door. "Wait, you don't understand! I can't go over there! It's not right, please, I swear—"

"Ghost, you're starting to panic before you even hit the crossing point. Breathe, will you? Your host needs air; he's beginning to look a bit purple." He smiled down at me, not seeming to notice that my sight refused to meet his—I had eyes only for the wall that I was being carried away from (but, in a roundabout way, I would eventually end up at), a hole already beginning to burn itself into my mind, _I don't want to go there_!

"I'll give you my name!" The crazy, half-formed thought chocked out of fear and panic and tore at my throat, "If you don't take me to sector five, I—I'll give you….my…" _Fantastic. Way to go, _Fenton_! Dig yourself into a hole._ I swallowed, feeling my cart-table shudder to a stop. "You…asked who I was."

Doctor Harris hesitated, then spun me around put me right back where I was before. "If you talk," He said, very gently, "I can have the supplies I need transferred into this room, ghost. You won't have to undergo sector five."

"You're…you're sure?" I responded, desperately trying to stall my way out of this. I didn't mean to say that, but, if it keeps me away from the…_but my identity! I won't be able to _hide_ after this!_

"Of course. You'll be perfectly safe." He patted my shoulder, "And your human host might even get to live through the operation. Isn't that nice?" Fingers went to a small radio attached to his collar and the doc flicked it on, "Would you boys be kind enough to bring in my instruments? Yes…sector five: division room seven. Oh, no, I won't be needing any anesthetic… Well, I'm sure the human mind is far enough under to—oh, of course. Can't forget that. Yes, I know, thank you. Oh, wait! One of you bring in that lie detector first."

He stopped and turned back to me. "There, see? My end of the bargain is done. Back to your name?"

"L-lie detector?" I glanced around, totally unsure if I'd made a good decision. It hadn't even _occurred_ to me to lie yet—and he's got a…lie detector…but, those things aren't always accurate, right? Something about…heart rate…and stuff. Give me a break. I'm not on top of my game today.

Doctor Harris nodded, making notes on a little clip board. "The Agents are only looking for a specific cluster of ghosts. Once we're assured that you're not one of them, we can do this nice and slow, okay, ghost? The human inside of you may _actually_ survive."

I swallowed, heavily. I bet I know what ghost is number one on their list. And I guess…yeah. It's official. I'm done for. There is no way the Frootloop or I planned for this to—

_A flash of red hot anger seared against my mind, contempt sweeping over from some unknown source. _Idiot_! It hissed. _Your feet aren't restrained_! A cold-hot sensation traveled to my hands and whipped my attention there before receding into a quiet bubble of nothing._

I blinked, Doctor Harris was swinging some foreign object around and ushering two agents to stand in a corner of the room. "We don't need to terrorize the thing." He said with clear frustration. "Just…_behave_ for the next few minutes. You will have your answer shortly."

Swiftly, the doc turned back to me, waving a small, thick band around in the air for me to view. "Okay, ghost, this would be a _true_ lie detector. It attaches around your wrist, like so." In one swift motion, a metal ring joined the clasp around my right wrist, a green light blinking on top of it for just a moment until a jerk of tiny pincers dove underneath my skin.

I flinched, but otherwise didn't move. I guess I can admit that I've felt worse. Wait.

My wrist.

_Idiot! Your feet aren't restrained!_

…My _wrist_!

My heart began to flutter uncontrollably; I couldn't help but give a very faint, hidden twist to my left hand, secretly gauging what it would take. I may be strapped down to this thing by my chest and my knees, and my wrists may have heavy restraints on them, but…

My ankles are free.

"Ghost?" My attention re-focused on the doc. "Were you listening? I need your name. Still. Everything's in place." He chuckled, "Remember, if you lie, the light goes red," He tapped the thing on my wrist. "And if you tell the truth it goes green. Very simple."

I kind of just stared at him, the feeling that my plans were suddenly being flushed down a toilet was inevitable. The moment I spoke my ghost name, the two agents in the corner were going to start…shooting me or something. I need a way to deflect their attention.

"What is your true ghost name?" The white suited man pushed.

…I wonder what would happen if I _didn't_ say the truth. It'd only take a second, all I need is their eyes off of me for just long enough…what more choice did I have, really? It's go out on a limb or die, basically. My torturers are _waiting_. My lips trembled, and, despite myself, I spat out the first Frootloop name that came to mind.

And there are really very few Frootloop names to choose from.

"Vlad." I spoke simply, calmer then I expected. "Vlad Plasmius."

Doctor Harris's eyes flicked to my wrist, and I tensed, watching with him as the light flicked on to tell my lie in a clear, easy to read…

Green color.

The doc straightened triumphantly. "You see? He's not on your list. Some harmless extra." Turning with a dramatic flourish, the man pointed them to the door, "You can go now."

My body was too tensed in action to care about a defective lie detector when I had three men with their backs to me. _No time to waste!_ With a half-strangled gasp, I braced for the pain and _yanked_.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Doctor Harris spinning to face me, shock barely registering in his eyes when a great _snap!_ echoed throughout the room. I brought up my left palm to face him, ignoring the throbbing of a freshly broken thumb as I fired every ounce of crackling green energy I could muscle up.

I didn't look to see the damage. My torso was already ducking, wriggling out of the restraint that had pressed so heavily upon my chest. My knees jerked sideways, twisted up, broke free. Only three body restraints – torso, waist, and knees. Then my hands were strapped down by a cold metal. Twisting out just took a bit of hassling. My breath was heavy as the table underneath me helplessly coiled with energy meant to contain any spectral entity.

It was really too bad I'd learned to do things the human way. _For them_. A sick, feral grin twitched across my lips and I was bracing a second time to break my right hand out of its restraint – the alarms had picked up my scent and I had only moments left to get out of this room.

Not that I really _wanted_ to break my other thumb. My eyes closed themselves tight while unconsciously my lower lip was sucked between a pair of teeth._ Like a band aide_, I reminded, heaving the strength of my legs right up into my back and tugging with all my might.

_Clink._

I looked down, blinking. I backed my wrist out again, and again.

_Clink! Clink!_

The helpless knock of metal against metal filled my suddenly mortified ears. The lie detector wrist band _thing_ was still painfully connected to my wrist, hundreds of little metal knives itching just underneath skin. Like a dog with a locked jaw, it refused to budge.

Keeping me solidly unable to get past the very last restraint. I was trapped, hooked down to a table. _A sitting duck_. A desperate grunt and a few tugs later and my feet hit the ground, pulling back with all of my might.

_Clinnnn_… The table rolled a little momentously, edging inches away with the force of my pull. I paused, staring down at a small set of wobbly wheels somehow managing to hold up a laboratory table of reinforced steel that must weigh at least one hundred pounds.

Those tiny, impossible, _movable_ wheels.

I grinned.

It took a fair amount of wrestling, kicking, and maneuvering in a very, _very_ tight time window to get this giant thing out into the hallway, but after that, it was totally fair game. One knee balanced precariously up top while my other leg pumped at the ground, kicking off into the straight hallway that would lead me home free!

Scootering down one way, I was carefully trying to rebuild the maps of the building that I knew of – near Sector Five, three four way intersections up ahead, and then a T. Hah! I'm _so_ near gate three.

Or…I could be routing by the cell rooms within Sector Four…

…

Oh God. The prison rooms.

Lancer.

My cart skittered to a stop, a bristling panic washing over my senses with the force of an uproarious thunderstorm. Terrifying images of a limp figure chained to a wall crashed over my vision, imaginary rats pulling at the edges of freshly misconstrued skin as a pool of blood swelled to—

I shook my head as hard as I could. _He's fine._ _Find him_. I pushed the cart shakily foreword, vaguely remembering the cell I was held in was at the end of the hallway, right on top of a T intersection. If I'm figuring correctly, the prison cell should be inside of that door right at the end of this hallway, a perfect target… My free hand flicked out to greet the far away door as I called up a ball of energy to evaporate the metal in my path.

My shot fired, an example of primary precision as I watched it coil and flame down the hall, my tightened eyes focused on watching the door shudder pitifully—

—I growled, pulling out another plug. "There, that should…" I blinked, staring down at the greasy trails along my fingers, an odd, woozy sensation flushing across my forehead as I stood up, too tall, and glanced at Valerie. She didn't seem to notice my perplexed expression, instead activating her hoverboard, the flash of a feral grin vanishing as she pulled on her hood.

"…What…" I wondered, "Valerie?"

She paused, tipped her head to the side. "What's wrong?" Her hand reach out to pull me up from the seeming hole in the floor, wires and dark grease magnifying and blurring in a strange, wiggly sort of pattern—

—I took in a deep shuddering breath, my shoulder still stinging from the way the lab table had crashed sideways on the cell wall. Errant sparkles of pain jolted along my arm to remind me that my elbow was in a grossly misplaced position. I groaned, sitting up and gingerly rubbing a cut on my fragile nose.

Monster's sharp teeth glinted up at me, "You are happy, free now, yes? Free Monster now, yes? Escape." His tiny, useless and scaly wings rubbed together in excited energy. I stared at him for an odd second before slowly shaking my head and moving to inspect my freed wrist (lie detector intact, despite some bite marks), which was basically useless due to my officially broken and blisteringly agonized arm, taking note of the chewed and twisted piece of metal that had been holding me to the table.

"That was weird." I whispered, pushing the…episode into the back of my mind. Right. Now I clearly remembered my tricky jaunt through the door, the two agents that tried to stop me, the thudding sense of helplessness as my table-cart flipped through the air…"Mr. Lancer?"

Monster's ears dropped level with his neck. "I not knoow. He not speak. Free Mooonster – I ch-eck?"

"S-sure…" I stared at him for a moment, dazed. There was a buzzing reminder of pain shooting up from my arm but my mind seemed to turn it off, somehow. It shut down on the screaming squelch of broken bone and pumped adrenaline through me like never before, my mind was thinking quickly, but not quickly enough.

I had no idea how to get him free. "Hold on." I said, with dry, slow lips, and turned suddenly to kneel next to the human lump in the back of the cell. In the scant light settling in from the hallway, I could see a man curled into a loose ball, his face covered by a lax arm while his other hand snaked out from underneath the weight of his body, slightly curled fingers begging towards the door.

He wasn't moving.

"Lancer?" I rasped.

No reply.

"M-Mr Lancer?" I repeated, a sinking feeling dragging its dreaded nails across the inside of my ribcage. My hand hesitated, but by now alarms were ringing in the back of my mind, telling me I needed to move. _Now_. With a rush I cascaded forward too eagerly and brushed Lancer's arm out of his face.

I froze.

Wide, brown, lifeless eyes stared numbly at nothing. I yelped, reeling away in lopsided crabwalk scuttle, tears sparking in my eyes even though my brain wasn't functioning well enough to let myself understand. My mind twisted a storm of catalyzed fear and I felt my stomach rebel in painful dry heaves that left me dazed and disoriented.

_Dead._

I shook my head. _No, no, no, no…_

_He's dead._

My head slammed down on the idea. _No, he's not._

_Shut up Fenton, _yes_, he is._

I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes. "Not dead. He can't be _dead_." I curled one broken fist in front of me, leaving my splintered arm to rest at my side and brought my knees up close so that they would dig painfully into my chest. _No, no, no, no, no…_

I wish I could say it was Monster that woke me up, or my own mind deciding to push its panic aside—or, heck, even GIW agents bursting into the room, guns blazing, would have made more sense. Honestly, by now they really _should_ have burst in.

But that wasn't it at all. There was a flicker, and suddenly the press of red on my eyes vanished with an underpowered _whine_.

The lights had gone out. I looked up, straining to understand the change. Monster whined next to me, my only faintly glowing light. "Free?" The ghost whimpered, pathetically ducking down. "Phantom Danny, help? Free Monster?"

"Y-yeah." My pupils contracted, but I could catch enough of Monster's glowing outline to see the cuffs bound to his wrists and pawed feet. Almost on autopilot, I fired an ectoblast at those wrists—

"This is where we split up." I finished, crouching down in the darkness. Valerie nodded curtly to me, gave my shoulder one last squeeze, and vanished—

"It no-ot work!" Monster sputtered furiously, his sharp teeth glinting in some glow-in-the-dark frustration.

I shook my head, spinning dizzily. "They're getting weirder…" I mumbled before pushing the vaguely-familiar hallucination into the back of my mind. Something had clicked in my brain, jump-starting my thinking process and sparking it into something useful.

I had one goal in mind.

Get out.

_Now_.

"I can't chew you out, Monster." I said, blinking up at him with a fierce determination. "I'm sorry – in order to find another way I'll have to get something. A key. Or…" I curled my pliable fingers into a thumbless fist, "_Do you understand_?"

Thick ears dove to his sides, and thin, almost imperceptible whiskers crinkled across humanoid blue cheeks. "You…" Monster curled in on himself, body shuddering despairingly. "Phantom Danny has no room for Monster."

"I'll try to come back for you." I promised, eyes trailing to the human lump in the back of the room. "_Both of you_." I whispered assuringly as I got to my feet.

Behind me, a dead body and a whimpering ghost – within, a tempest of raging emotions settling onto one solid objective.

In front of me, a dark and twisting labyrinth waited with a leering danger.

I took a deep breath. _Here we go.

* * *

_

**Next chapter "Breaking Through" coming soon!**

**~Catalyst**_  
_


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